Choosing Your Way of Being — Focusing on the Quality of Action, Not the Result
We live our lives repeating choices every day.
Within those choices, we try to judge 'what is right' and 'what is good'.
However, are those judgments truly correct?
And where do those choices originate?
Bhagavad Gita 2.51 provides a profound perspective on action, results, and our freedom.
How to Feel the Air and God
Air has existed since countless ages ago.
Ancient yogis felt the air through nature.
We feel the air through technology.
For ancient yogis, meditation was the only way to feel God.
Today, we have numerous tools to feel the air that has such a long history. Similarly, in the modern age, we can feel God through various means such as scriptures, temples, nature (the Ganges River or the sun), and saints.
For us, meditation is the final step, and we move toward it by going to temples and engaging with the teachings of scriptures.
And technology, too, depending on how it is used, can become a means to feel spirituality.
Who Creates Actions and Results?
In Bhagavad Gita 5.14, it is stated that the senses, the nature of actions, and the results are not given by God, but are born from the gunas.
A day has a flow of four parts: morning, noon, evening, and night, which repeat naturally without effort.
Karma is the cycle of 'action → result'.
If you do something wrong, you receive a negative result; if you do something good, you receive a positive result. This is the mechanism of nature, not something given by God.
That is why, when you obtain a positive result, it is important to be grateful for your own positive actions.
Judging Positive and Negative
We each have our own definitions of positive and negative. However, when selfishness, ego, or social attachments are strong, those judgments become distorted.
Essentially, to discern what is right, knowledge is necessary. That is the perspective held by wise people and saints.
For example, even if you have a lot of medicine in your house, you cannot use it correctly without knowledge.
That is why it is important to learn from those who possess knowledge, rather than judging solely by your own thoughts.
Do Not Cling to Your Own Judgments
When attachment to your own thoughts is strong, you should not easily decide what is positive or negative. Even if you feel comfortable, that does not necessarily mean it is right.
To make judgments, you must educate yourself.
What is necessary for that is spiritual knowledge.
We tend to make choices based on 'comfort'.
The power given to human beings
Good things, bad things.
Positive, negative.
It is humans themselves who decide these things.
Animals cannot change their nature because they lack knowledge and will.
However, humans possess knowledge and will. That is precisely why we can change our nature.
Through the power of will, we can evolve. To do so, it is necessary to mature our desires.
Choosing your own life
Human life has a certain rhythm, but it is not entirely predetermined.
For example, even if it is considered that 'night is for sleeping,' some people work.
We can choose our own way of living.
Even if we fall into a negative state, we are beings capable of changing from there. To do so, knowledge and strength are required.
The power of will and decision
If we do not use our will, we will live according to our innate nature.
Rather than living life just drifting along, we need to make decisions to use our will to change our nature.
Deciding to be positive is also an act of the power of will.
This power is one of the blessings given by God, and only humans possess it.
However, to use our will, we need motivation, learning, and effort.
How to face difficult situations
Stress and unexpected events are not easy for anyone.
However, it is important not to just do nothing, but to overcome them using your knowledge and will. When you are feeling negative, start by calming your mind.
God will not help you directly. However, devotion and spiritual knowledge will bring peace to your heart.
Bhagavad Gita 2.51
कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं त्यक्त्वा मनीषिणः ।
जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम् ॥ 51 ॥
karma-jaṁ buddhi-yuktā hi phalaṁ tyaktvā manīṣiṇaḥ
janma-bandha-vinirmuktāḥ padaṁ gacchanty anāmayam
Those whose intelligence is stable, by letting go of attachment to the results of their actions, become free from the cycle of life and reach a state beyond suffering.
What is a wise person
A wise person is someone who,
・The intellect is calm
・Not attached to the results of actions or to life and death
This is a person who possesses these two qualities.
By reaching that state, we can transcend suffering.
The Three Worlds
Animal World
・Lacks the power of will
・Only accepts what happens
・Cannot change the situationHuman World
・No need to suffer even in negative situations
・Can regulate the mind through will and understanding
・Can create change in any situationGod World
・A state beyond positive and negative (Samadhi)
The Relationship Between Action and Attachment
To stabilize the intellect, one must learn from every single experience.
And, do not be attached to the results of actions.
At first, focus on "doing good things" and make it a habit.
Eventually, when you are stable, you will also let go of the attachment to those actions.
The Difference Between God and Humans
God is a being that transcends both positive and negative. Therefore, there is no attachment to actions, and no judgment.
On the other hand, we are bound by happiness and sadness due to our attachment to actions.
That attachment creates the cycle of life and death.
Breaking the Chain of Action
In a normal state,
Action → Result → Emotion → Memory → Next Action
This flow continues.
As long as there is attachment, this chain will not end.
・Repeating the same reactions
・Returning to the same patterns
・Bound by the same emotions
Yoga is a practice to break this chain.
Summary
We walk a path where we choose positive actions while remaining unattached to those actions or their outcomes.
And what is necessary for this is the power of knowledge and will.
Using the power of will. Clarifying the direction you want to head in and building upon it one step at a time. This accumulation may not produce a major change immediately. However, as the quality of our daily choices changes little by little, our very way of being quietly transforms. And, to cultivate the strength to face the situations before us, we must continue to acquire knowledge. Knowledge is not something that imposes correctness, but rather an axis to return to when lost, and a support to keep us from being overly swayed by emotions or circumstances.
Choosing your own way of being rather than being swept away by circumstances.
Making choices based on the direction you truly want to head, rather than on comfort or temporary emotions. Focusing on the quality of the action, not the result.
At that moment, we become able to live from the perspective of "how we are" rather than "what we can gain."
I feel that this accumulation leads us toward a freedom that transcends suffering.
2026/3/28